This time, I bring you the lovely barrel of racism and wtfery that is Asgard! Yay, general series details. Also, spoilers for who the main villain of the series is, if you don't already know.

Vol. 6: “Asgard”, Governor of the Surface Worlds

Asgard is the world where the gods who created the surface worlds and those serving them live. However, because of the war with Niflheim’s army known as “Ragnarok”, the gods have disappeared. After that, the Seven Magi seized authority, which brings us to the present day. It is a world controlled by order and rationality, digitized and giving off a cold, inhuman feel, but the majority of the citizens led by the Seven Magi are humanoids with human emotions and desires, so it cannot be said that Asgard is controlled by order completely.

The objective of Asgard’s armies is both the preservation of order in the surface worlds and to thwart the armies of Niflheim, which aim to break down order in those same worlds. More specifically, Asgard is not controlling the surface worlds strictly, but encourages self-maintenance by the people who live in them. Additionally, there is the concern that surface worlds want to protect themselves when they are otherwise independent of Asgard, so for as long as there is no worry about Asgard being caught off-guard by a demon invasion, they do not interfere with the surface worlds.

Successors of the Gods: the Seven MagiThe highest-ranking organization in Asgard since the age of the gods, who essentially rule the world in the present. In actuality, there are constant power struggles between the seven of them, but because their leadership depends on all of them, they present a united façade to the public.

Defenders of Asgard: AngelsMainly in charge of Asgard’s military affairs. They are artificially constructed beings without the natural instinct for self-awareness or desire. However, external stimuli can cause them to develop bountiful emotions. Currently, they move on the orders of the Seven Magi, but angels are truly the servants of the gods, and secretly, the extent of their loyalty to the Magi is unknown.

The Hands Protecting Order: HumanoidsThe main race seen in Asgard, they are mainly in charge of the preservation of peace in domestic affairs. Unlike the angels, they naturally have self-awareness, emotions, and desires typical of living beings, but the difference between their lives and those of humans on the surface worlds is huge. In concrete terms, ordinary living beings require “nourishment”, but because the digestive process is considered “inefficient”, their nutritional supply comes from SLEEP (their dormant system).

Hector’s Ambition and the “Phantasmal Strata”One of the Seven Magi, Hector, is host to a great and terrible desire; by going so far as trying to create Grim Angels, which is no longer possible in the now-ruined Asgard, he is a dangerous person attempting to transform himself into a god. One of his tests was the construction of the “Phantasmal Strata” in Riviera. With these strata, Hector is capable of using the dummy version in Asgard to be able to access Riviera from Asgard; he built them for this purpose. By the rules of Asgard, creating any path linking Asgard to surface worlds aside from Heaven’s Gate is “impossible”, so the fact that Hector was able to create such a thing had great impact in Asgard.

The Fortress Protecting Asgard, “Heaven’s Gate”Heaven’s Gate is an intermediary land between Asgard and the surface worlds, an area which was created as Asgard’s final line of defense. In each surface world, one single link to Heaven’s Gate exists, and all of them meet in Asgard.

Species Directory 6: The Seven MagiThe members of the Seven Magi were once no more than ordinary humanoids, but once they put on the extraordinary cloaks given to them by the gods, they gained the authority of the gods along with lifespans so long as to be eternal. As they all wear the same robes and hide their eyes, they have lost their individuality. This is their performance as those who became the successors of the gods little by little: “We have become the ultimate beings with no sense of ego.” However, they still retain both their ego and their souls, and between the seven of them, the power balance is perpetually in flux.

Ito Shinichi’s Dept. Heaven Secret Story, part 6This time we’re talking about the gods, but they’re too awe-inspiring to speak of, so I think I’ll quit while I’m ahead.

……Like that, I have vague mental images that the gods are “incredibly awe-inspiring or something”. About the settings that are used for the games, I actually don’t really like leaving their image so indistinct, but when it comes to the gods, I get even more of a feeling that they have to have a “vague feeling” for reasons I don’t understand. If details piled up too much, you could say they might start to become weaker… In order for gods to remain gods, I have the feeling that even the hands that made them can’t know too much about them. For that reason, that’s all when it comes to the gods.

In exchange for that, I think I’ll talk for a little bit about the gods’ successors, the Seven Magi. They are the gods’ successors because they’re officials, but because they’re still humanoids with desires and emotions, Hector has limitless power, his position and an influential voice in Asgard, and a strong attachment to his privileges. For that reason, I think their days may be filled with political bargaining and conspiracies, betrayals and treachery. I think the organization of the Magi is something that the eyes of the ordinary people must never touch, black and dripping. Personally, I’d like to try making a game using this stage of the Magi, freely using tactics and conspiracies instead of magic and swords while allying with and then betraying the other members to fight persistently with a weird system.

"Personally, I’d like to try making a game using this stage of the Magi, freely using tactics and conspiracies instead of magic and swords while allying with and then betraying the other members to fight persistently with a weird system."

Hmmmm... This could probably be done using Steve Jackson's game "Illuminati" as inspiration for rules and the like. That could be interesting.

/digs out his old Illuminati deck and takes notes on all this so he can use it when he finally gets around to making that Dept. Heaven pencil and paper RPG.